THE WELLINGTON COLLEGE.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 4914, 21 December 1876, Page 2

THE WELLINGTON COLLEGE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE NEW ZEALAND TIMES. Sir, — I had not intended replying to your article in Saturday’s issue until I had referred the matter to the College Governors; but as it seems that silence on my part is to be contrued into assent to your various statements, I will endeavor to answer concisely and distinctly the various queries put by you in that article.

1. The main gist of my letter of 3rd Nov. was to deny in the plainest possible manner, the truth of your statement that the University grant of £3OO had been, or was about to be withdrawn for the reason alleged by you, and this denial I now point black repeat. 2. I never denied your statement as to the money voted by the Provincial Council being distributed in a certain manner amongst certain of the masters; on the contrary, I stated that it was, and is, being distributed by the provincial authorities without any reference whatever to a sanction from the Governors of the College. This money does not pass through my hands, and it is only by hearsay that I am aware it has been paid. Whether its payment for the current quarter will be sanctioned or not, I have no more idea than you have, probably less. 3. The vote of £IOOO for “head master’s salary and lectureship ” was one that was guaranteed for four years under a special Act of the General Assembly, and out of this the Principal received £7OO a year, and no more, being the amount that was guaranteed to him when he was engaged in England. Your insinuation, therefore, that his nominal salary is supplemented in some underhand manner out of the above mentioned vote, is entirely without foundation.

4. A bonus of £IOO was given by the Governor of the College, on the Ist of March, 1875, to the second master, in consideration of his past services as acting head master, and was certainly not given in addition to the £250 which he has received as his share of the monies voted by the Provincial Council, inasmuch as when the £IOO was given there was not the slightest idea of any such vote being asked for from the Provincial Council. 5. As the provincial vote would only take effect from the 31st March, the total emoluments enjoyed by the second master for that year would consequently only amount to £687 10s., and not £750, as stated by you. 1 may state, in conclusion, that I am at all times both ready and willing to afford the fullest information in respect to all College matters, and can only express my regret that you should not have taken the trouble to make yourself fully acquainted with the subject, before you committed yourself to statements calculated to injure the institution in the eyes of the public.—l am, &c., Charles C. Graham, Secretary Wellington College